Monthly Archives: October 2020

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Academy Award-nominated and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Aimee Mann will debut a 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition of her acclaimed album, Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo, on November 27 as part of Black Friday Record Store Day. The colored vinyl reissue will be remastered and restored from the original session tapes and feature five additional tracks from Mann’s soundtrack for Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia, including the Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated “Save Me” and “Wise Up.” The record, which is limited to only 5,000 copies worldwide, will be available for purchase at participating Record Store Day retailers.

​Mann self-released Bachelor No. 2 in 2000 and sold the first 25,000 copies directly from her website. After securing a distribution deal, she sold well over 275,000 units in the U.S. alone, leading the way for many self-releasing artists to come. Produced by Mann, Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright) Mike Denneen (Guster, Letters to Cleo), Buddy Judge (Stevie Nicks, Liz Phair) and Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam), the album continues to receive critical praise even after two decades: Pitchfork proclaims “[Bachelor No. 2 is] a world-weary showcase of independent spirit and expertly tuned songwriting,” while calling the album “a contemporary classic.” Stereogum furthers, “Mann is widely revered as one of the finest songwriters.”

Of Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo, Mann notes:
When I wrote this record, I was on a label. When I released it, I was not. There were some mergers of labels, and I think maybe this album got lost in the shuffle, but mostly they didn’t hear a single. They said I could go if I wanted to, so I did.

I called it Last Remains of the Dodo because I felt like singer-songwriters were a dying breed, and really, they still are. I don’t remember why Bachelor No. 2, but maybe because a lot of these songs are about relationships. Some of these relationships are with people and some are with record labels, and it’s not always easy to tell which is which. These things echo.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | With a howling and unholy mix of punk rock and the blues, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club exploded upon the L.A. club scene in the early ’80s.

​They recorded their debut album, 1981’s Fire of Love, for the local Slash/Ruby label. But when it came time to record a follow-up, the group decamped to New York to work with producer Chris Stein of Blondie and his new label, Animal. The results were 1982’s stunning Miami, an album that didn’t get its proper due back in the day. Blixa Sounds will right that wrong on December 4, 2020 with deluxe reissues of the album in double-CD and double-vinyl editions.

Both the double-CD and double-vinyl editions will contain a digitally remastered version of the original 12-track album, as well as demos of every track. In addition, the CD version will contain a second disc jam-packed with a total of 18 previously unreleased demos, including 6 tracks exclusive to the CD release.

The double-vinyl version will be released as a two-LP set packaged in a gatefold cover with extensive liner notes by drummer Terry James Graham and journalist Craig Rosen, as well as rare photos and ephemera. The CD version is a two-disc set, also with liner notes, photos and ephemera.

While their own hometown of Los Angeles was lukewarm to The Gun Club, others, including Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, took notice. He signed the band to his fledging Animal imprint, awarded to him by Chrysalis Records for Blondie’s huge commercial success.

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Remembering Eddie Van Halen, from our archives. —Ed.

A couple of years ago the apartment my ex-wife and I lived in suffered a mouse infestation. We tried regular traps and glue traps, but they seemed terribly cruel, so we finally bought some catch-and-release traps. We lived on the third floor, and I got tired of carrying the traps down to the alley to release them. So I thought, why not release them on the balcony, where they’d be free to scamper along the rooftops to safety? So I tried it, but instead of escaping via the rooftops my frightened test mouse shot out of his little prison like a furry little bullet, promptly sailed off the edge of our balcony, and fell screaming (I may have imagined the screaming) to the concrete parking space below.

I’m not sure why—or actually I am—why that mouse never fails to remind me of Van Halen’s great “Jump.” I might as well have been singing, “Jump! Go ahead and jump!” as he plummeted earthwards. But anyway, the point I want to make is not that mice should look before they leap, although they should, but that I love Van Halen’s “Jump”—loved it even during those years when virtually all I listened to were SST bands, and admitting to liking a Van Halen song (at least amongst my crowd) was not so far from confessing to like that Seals and Crofts song about the summer breeze blowing through the jasmine in your mind.

I should add that my love for “Jump” did not extend to Van Halen itself. I had in fact never so much as listened to a Van Halen LP in its entirety, much less owned one. Honestly? I thought they were a band of morons. They dressed like Jose Feliciano was their haberdasher, and it was my considered opinion that Eddie Van Halen was a shameless showboater with his tapping (a technique he didn’t invent); single pickup, single volume knob guitar; and volume swells, or “violining.”

Then there was the perpetually mugging David Lee Roth, whom I considered the world’s oldest class clown. (I’ve come to love him over the years for the same reason.) As for bassist Michael Anthony, well, bassist Michael Anthony was just short. Too short. Like midget short. Then there was the drummer, Eddie’s brother, whose name slips my mind (Alex? Alek like Lee Harvey Oswald’s USSR name?) but it hardly matters because who pays attention to the drummer except other drummers anyway?

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Way down in Florida, Gainesville-based singer-songwriter David Gordon spent 13 years quietly writing his second FUNKILLER album, Tropical Depression—a masterfully composed record that effortlessly swerves between dreamy-pop melodies and ethereal soundscapes. While it was finally released digitally last week via LaunchLeft, a pre-order for the vinyl is now live as well. This pressing will be on 180-gram black vinyl in a gatefold jacket.

The Vinyl District is proud to premiere the video for the title track, “Tropical Depression.” It’s a truly tranquil journey that’s accentuated by wistful dynamics and captivating poetry. The video was shot by Stephen Mckendree at various spots across Gainesville, Micanopy and St. Augustine. Locations all near and dear to Gordon.

“[The video for] ‘Tropical Depression’ is a slice of psychological life in Florida,” he said. “Woozy black-and-white layers of past and present imagery mirror the mystical cyclical nature of its creative forces.” Being a film photographer, and avid film lover, Gordon found a way to not only give a nod to one of his favorite films (note the poster for John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus), but also weave in old tape reels into the production.

“There’s found footage that was shot in Miami,” he added. “All of the footage of the aerial views, and old 16mm film, that was old found footage that my friend bought at an estate sale. I basically juxtaposed the two things. That was the rub: How do I marry these two things? I wanted to bridge the gap between the past and present.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In celebration of its 20 year anniversary, Flying Nun veterans The Subliminals have announced a vinyl only reissue of their 2000 album United State, due out on November 6th via Flying Nun Records.

​The album’s 11 tracks were remastered for vinyl by original engineer Tex Houston, re-ordered for optimal playback and pressed in New Zealand at Holiday Records to heavyweight 180g black vinyl. On November 6th, to coincide with this reissue, the band are performing an intimate extended set at Whammy Bar in Auckland, New Zealand. This will be a rare opportunity to see them in a reunited state.

Defined in the past as “an accident, a beautiful accident,” The Subliminals have always leaned into the eccentricities of its four members, Steve Reay, Simon Maclaren, Jared Johanson and Brendan Moran. Together, the band amalgamated the “Flying Nun sound” with a Krautrock inspired, futurist “less-is-more” aesthetic—making new of the old. The “Crystal Chain” E.P was their first release from right before the turn of the century, and it presented a unique sonic drive, but with a tip of the hat to its predecessors. Their first and only full-length release, United State followed soon after, in 2000, and made exemplary use of The Subliminals driving minimalist principles.

United State was recorded in a similar setting to their debut, with engineering and producing duties handled by Dunedin legend Tex Houston. With every element of the backline distributed in different rooms throughout their adopted Northland beach house, the band was able to immortalise their enviable live energy, but with manageable track isolation.

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“Seth and I met at a gig up in the mountains in Colorado when he helped me carry my old Roland keyboard from my 1992 Toyota Corolla station wagon to the stage.”

CHINA: Music and mutual friends brought us together, and I remember thinking that Seth was the most intelligent person at the table later that night when we all went out for drinks. It was the early oughts, before streaming and YouTube, before the internet would take over music listening. I was working 5 different gigs to make ends meet at the time, driving myself all across Denver in that green station wagon, listening to my CDs and the radio.

I mentioned to Seth that first night, that I was obsessed with a song I’d heard on the radio, but didn’t know who had sung it or how to find it. I sang the snippet that I remembered, “In the cathedrals of New York and Rome…” to him, unbeknownst that he was the world’s best finder of random things; that he would research until he found the song, “Cathedrals” by Jump Little Children; that he would purchase the CD it appeared on, and bring it to my doorstep. Thusly, our mutual adoration of each other and of music grew to this full-on collaboration we now nurture, grow and manage together called Alright Alright.

SETH: Yeah, I mean I was a bit smitten when I saw China, then I heard her sing and I was starting to get it bad. Later, in the middle of this dive bar we all ended up at that night, we were drinking martinis to feel fancy, and China asked us about that song. It was so amazing to have this beautiful girl with this big voice just belt a song in the middle of the bar.

Finding that album for her was sorta my foot in the door, and ever since, we’ve ended up discovering a lot of music together over the years. That magic still happens. We were at Americana Fest last year at Jeremy Ivey’s album release in the new Grimey’s, and while we were listening to the music, we kept finding records we wanted. They made some money on us that night!

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Slumberland Records winds up its 18-month, 30th anniversary series, offering a baker’s dozen of SLR30 singles with a pair of 45s getting their debut here at The Vinyl District.

From England comes the trio Flowers, who have cited the Slumberland ethic as an influence since the noisy indie pop band formed in London eight years ago. “Flowers always wanted to release a record on Slumberland,” the band says.

“Erik” is the band’s first single since 2017, and concerns the antics of a wayward pet hamster, with Rachel Kennedy’s ethereal voice rising over Sam Ayres guitar and Jordan Hockley’s drums. When issued to subscribers November 13, “Candour” will be the B-side.

The trio Neutrals are out of San Francisco, who issued an album in 2019 on Emotional Response Records and an EP earlier this year on Domestic Departure. The jagged guitar pop of “Personal Computing,” the final entry in the SLR30 Singles Series, looks back to the intersection of pop music and home computing, back in the days when you could “buy dodgy bootleg Spectrum games like Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy, etc, from the same stall at Barras in Glasgow where you could buy illicit recordings of the gigs that went on there at night,” says the band’s Allan McNaughton, who moved from Scotland to the Bay Area decades ago.

“‘Personal Computing’ takes nostalgia for that simpler time—typing BASIC into your ZX81 from a printed magazine, buzzing tape head cleaner to get high—to the point of obsession or even fetish.” Recorded just before COVID-19 locked down the world, “In the Future” continues the theme on the flip, also out on November 13.

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Steve Gunn is best known for his string of records in singer-songwriter mode, especially two for the Matador label, but the man has been involved with numerous other projects spanning back to the mid-’00s, including the Gunn-Truscinski Duo, which features drummer John Truscinski on the right side of the hyphen. Soundkeeper is their fourth full-length in twosome configuration, a double set delivering more by design as their sound also gets broadened in unexpected ways; psychedelia is still in abundance, but with impressive improvisational fortitude. It’s out October 9 on 2LP and CD through Three Lobed Recordings.

The intro above perhaps short-shrifts John Truscinski a bit. Along with contributing to three of Gunn’s “solo” albums, he’s played on records by Magik Markers and Dredd Foole, and has been a member of Desert Heat with Gunn and Cian Nugent, and X.O.4 alongside Jake Meginsky and Bill Nace. A notable recent project is Sound for Andy Warhol’s KISS, which was recorded by Truscinski, Nace, Gunn, and Kim Gordon and released last year by the Andy Warhol Museum. Nace (who’s half of Body/Head with Gordon), also plays on Bridle Path, Truscinski’s own solo record, released earlier this year.

Bay Head, the last record by Gunn-Truscinski Duo, issued by Three Lobed in November of 2017, was a truly superb dose of psych action, modern but timeless, with a cumulative heft that felt conjured by more than four hands. As a double album, Soundkeeper hangs in the same weight class while displaying impressive stamina, with none of the tracks (ten of them cut in studio, two captured live) serving as padding (the set runs a relatively trim 71 minutes).

The striking thing about Soundkeeper’s contents is how so much of it reaches outside of psych’s parameters while maintaining expansive cohesiveness. And right off the bat, as the succinct opener “Into” is loaded with enough string shimmer to make a guitar-pop act envious, with Truscinski helming a synth for the track (his use of said instrument initiated on Bay Head), though the intent is to bring depth to the piece rather than deliver easily recognizable tones.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Ode Records and The Orchard distribution company celebrate the 45th anniversary of the one-and-only The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a limited-edition vinyl picture disc of the original film soundtrack album, set for release on October 23.

​Executive producer of the original film and Ode Records founder Lou Adler remarked, “Congratulations to all the Rocky Horror fans who have not only ‘dreamed it’ but have ‘been it’ for all these decades and to the creators: Richard O’Brien, Jim Sharman and Richard Hartley.” Here is a opportunity to “toucha, toucha” a unique vinyl picture disc that features an amazing photograph of the iconic Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter on one side, while the other side spotlights theater marquees where The Rocky Horror Picture Show has played or is currently playing — the longest theatrical release in film history.

“Science Fiction/Double Feature,” “The Time Warp,” “Toucha, Toucha, Touch Me,” and “Sweet Transvestite” are among the now-famous songs on the soundtrack, which has been remastered for this special edition. It features performances by the film’s stars, including Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, and Meatloaf. The original soundtrack, produced by Richard Hartley, was released on Ode Records (owned by the legendary music producer, and Rocky Horror film producer, Lou Adler).

Based on the 1973 stage musical and released in 1975, Rocky Horror represents a rare pop culture phenomenon — a film that initially died at the box office only to be reborn as a monstrously popular midnight movie, becoming well known for the screenings’ outlandish audience participation. Its success is rather miraculous considering that it was built by word of mouth across the nation and then the world back in the pre-internet ’70s.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Bruce Springsteen fans around the world will get a behind-the-scenes look at his creative process in the documentary feature film, Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You, from Apple Original Films, premiering exclusively on Apple TV+, Friday 23rd October.

​The feature-length verité documentary arrives the same day as Springsteen’s new album Letter To You and features full performances from The E Street Band, in-studio footage, never-before-seen archival material and a deeper look into Letter To You from Springsteen himself. Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You captures Springsteen recording Letter To You live with the full E Street Band and includes final take performances of ten originals from the new record. Written by Springsteen and directed by his frequent collaborator Thom Zimny (Western Stars, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash, Springsteen on Broadway), the film is a tribute to the E Street Band, to rock music itself, and to the role it has played in Springsteen’s life.

Letter To You is Springsteen’s first studio album recorded live and together with the E Street Band since 1984’s Born In The U.S.A. Both the album and companion documentary include recently-written Springsteen songs side-by-side with legendary but previously unreleased compositions from the 1970s. Throughout the documentary, Springsteen shares his thoughts and feelings behind Letter To You and puts the new music into the context of his entire body of work. In that way, it’s the next piece in the autobiographical series that began with the memoir Born to Run, continued with Springsteen on Broadway and advanced through his film Western Stars.

Apple Original Films’ Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You is produced by Jon Landau and Zimny and co-produced by Barbara Carr, with Springsteen serving as executive producer. 

“For me, my choice in vinyl comes in two ways, it’s either a must-buy for something I’ve been looking for for awhile and finally came upon, or it comes in taking a risk and buying a random set of 20 records from the bargain bin and hoping to strike gold.”

“My collection ranges from selections of old records passed down to me—like Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland or Deja Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young—and then I have many self-purchased that I’ve learned now have accumulated a lot from merch stands at local shows.

One of my current most prized finds is an LP of a favorite Nashville black metal outfit that no longer exists—Alraune’s The Process of Self-Immolation. I had luckily gotten to see them towards the end of their existence and had regretted not buying a hard copy of this record at the time. But on one of Oginalii’s last tours, we had stopped by a record store in Columbus, OH called Used Kids Records and I just happened to run across this exact LP in the metal bin.

I hadn’t even looked at the price and just immediately picked it up and bought it. Of course it had not been a high demand album, but to me I felt like I had hit the lottery. Sometimes you run into what you have been looking for in the most random of places.”
—Ryan

“I was born in 1994, but am lucky enough to have had some time to experience discovering and listening to music before streaming.”

“Both my parents had their respective CD and cassette collections that I couldn’t keep my hands off of. I scoured through both shelves and brought certain ones around with me with my portable players. I started playing piano at a young age and didn’t understand the ‘why’ of it. It felt more like a sport or after school program than anything until going into a record store for the first time. I was 9 or 10 and that trip completely changed my interests for good.

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